Public Speaking

I have always looked up to the great orators of our age, admiring the ability of figures like Barack Obama to capture an audience’s attention and rally a room, a crowd, a movement into action through nothing more than language. Though I might never match the speech writing skills of Obama, Jon Favreau, and Cody Keenan, I have found public speaking to be an invaluable tool to connect with audiences, rally support for campaigns, and inspire individuals to believe in their own abilities.

As a coach of speech and debate at Berry College from 2019-2022, I helped students hone these public speaking skills and achieve two first-place student finishes.

During my single year as a speech and debate competitor at Berry College during the 2018-2019 season, I achieved the following:

2 National Championships
1 State Championship
3 Tournament Championships
American Forensics Association National At-Large Qualification with first 3 tournaments as a novice

This was a speech I delivered for my government final, an assignment in which we chose one person, from George Washington to the present, and wrote for them an acceptance speech for the party nomination for President. This imagines Alexander Hamilton’s address had he lived and been confirmed as the Federalist candidate in 1804.

Presented at Johns Hopkins University

April 29, 2024

With this speech I aimed to encourage election volunteer work in North Georgia during the 2022 midterm elections.

Presented at the Civic Engagement Rally for Walker County in Georgia

Oct. 1, 2022

With this keynote address I aimed to encourage election volunteer work in North Georgia during the 2022 midterm elections and raise the funds and support for a series of voter outreach workshops I later held. I delivered this keynote alongside Democratic candidates Bee Nguyen for Georgia Secretary of State, Marcus Flowers for U.S. House of Representatives, and William Boddie Jr. for Georgia Labor Commissioner.

Presented at the Kennedy Carter Dinner for Whitfield, Murray, and Gordon County Democratic Committees

Aug. 20, 2022

This was an inspirational speech I wrote for my fellow Georgia election workers during a period of the pandemic when we had yet to discover a vaccine and when Georgia was still considered impossible to win.

Presented remotely through YouTube

Sept. 13, 2020

This slam won first place in a poetry competition hosted by the League of Women Voters and Georgia Highlands College.

Presented at the Justice For All Poetry Slam Competition in Rome, Georgia

Sept. 26, 2019.